(CNN) -- "This is not what I planned," Paris Hilton told Piers Morgan in reference to the infamous sex tape that the CNN host said "catapulted" the heiress "into the celebrity stratosphere" when it was released back in 2003.

"I didn't want to be known as that," continued Hilton. "And now when people look at me they think that I'm something I'm not just because of one incident one night with someone who I was in love with.

"People assume 'Oh, she's a slut' because of one thing that happened to me and it's hard because I'll have to live with that for the rest of my life and explain it to my children. And it's something that's changed my life forever and I'll never be able to erase it."

Hilton told Morgan that she was in Australia when the tape was released and that she was "in shock" when she saw a clip of the video which had actually been filmed in 2001, two years prior. Paris called the incident "the most embarrassing, humiliating thing that has ever happened to me in my life."

Hilton's mother, Kathy, who joined her daughter on the show, recalled that Paris did not leave the family's New York home for three months after the tape was leaked, and during that time the family underwent therapy.

Paris Hilton opens up about sex tape

When Morgan asked Hilton what she thought about the people who put the tape out there -- specifically her ex-boyfriend, Rick Salomon -- Hilton said she "just felt so betrayed. This was not some random guy. This was someone I was with for a few years." Later in the interview, she confided that she thinks Salomon is "a very bad person."

Hilton was 20 when the tape was made and recently turned 30. She told Morgan that she feels like she's "really grown in the past couple of years." She said she hopes her new show on the Oxygen network, "The World According To Paris," will clear up the "many misconceptions" people have about her.

"This show is all real," she said. "I was finally ready to show who I really was, and I'm really honest in the show, and there's a lot of things in the show I can't even believe I'm going to let air. But I want it to be as real as possible and people to get to know me."

When Morgan asked the hotel heiress about people's misconceptions, she replied, "Just having the last name Hilton, people assume that everything was handed to me and I've never had to work a day in my life. But in reality, I've worked so hard, I've done this all on my own and I don't take anything from my family. I do everything by myself.

"Just growing up, my parents never spoiled us. They always made us want to do something on our own. I think I have a name where I have a lot to live up to and I didn't want to just be known as the Hilton granddaughter. I wanted to build my own empire and do something on my own and I think it's just something that runs in my blood, wanting to be creative and do big things."

The CNN host asked whether she said playing the fame game was worth the price.

"I've really grown a thick skin over the years and I've had so many things said about me, and it's hard," Hilton said. "But I feel like what else could happen at this point. Everything bad that could happen to a person has happened to me."

Morgan asked Kathy Hilton whether she would have stopped her daughter from pursing fame if it meant avoiding the pitfalls she has been through.

"If she didn't have to go through what we had just talked about, yes, obviously," she said. "I mean, I did think she was going to be a veterinarian."

Kathy Hilton told Morgan that her daughter was a tomboy as a child, and that "she didn't even care about clothing or any of that until we moved to New York."

Paris Hilton said she doesn't think she would be the success she is today without her family's love and support.

"I am so fortunate that my parents have been together forever," she said. "They're so supportive, they're there for me, they love me ... If I didn't have my parents, I don't know where I'd be today."

Aside from her new series and recording an album, Hilton told Morgan, "I have 17 different product lines, so I do everything from fragrances, handbags, clothing, shoes, sunglasses, pet products, stationery, bedding. I do everything. I just launched my 11th fragrance."

While Hilton made it clear that she feels uncomfortable discussing money, she did disclose that her brand amasses her more than $10 million a year.

"I do very well for myself," said Paris. "I'm very proud of what I've done."

"I really am passionate about every single thing I do ... and I've worked really hard to achieve all this."

Hilton, who has been dating businessman and entrepreneur Cy Waits for over a year, told Morgan she has "never been happier."

He just makes me feel so safe," she said of Waits. "He's so loyal and he's my best friend. He's an incredible man. I'm honestly lucky."

While Hilton wouldn't say whether an engagement is in the immediate future, she said she couldn't imagine herself with anyone else, and that "I'd love to have a family and children in the next couple of years, definitely."

Asked how she wanted to be remembered, she told Morgan, "as someone who made people smile and one who enjoyed life to the fullest and was a good person with a good heart."